Category: News and Views

YouTube’s Change in Subscriber Counts Sparks Its Own Drama | WIRED

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

YOUTUBE RECENTLY ANNOUNCED plans to change the way subscriber counts are displayed on the site. Beginning in August, instead of showing precise totals (i.e., 14,230,974), the video service will show a rounded number (i.e., 14 million).

Unlike similar redesigns by Twitter and Instagram, which deemphasized follower count by shrinking the type in which it is displayed, YouTube’s change eliminates publicly available precise tallies, meaning that only the YouTube creator will know exactly how many accounts have subscribed to their channel. What’s more, YouTube said the change will also affect the data it feeds outside services like Social Blade, which display real time subscriber counts, view totals, and estimate YouTubers’ potential earnings.

Read More

All the Ways Google Tracks You—And How to Stop It | WIRED

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

YOU’RE PROBABLY AWARE that Google keeps tabs on what you’re up to on its devices, apps, and services—but you might not realize just how far its tracking reach extends, into the places you go, the purchases you make, and much more. It’s an extensive set of data, but you can take more control over what Google collects about you and how long the company keeps it. Here’s how.

It’s worth emphasizing first that we’re really dealing with two topics: The amount of data Google collects on you, which is a lot, and what Google then does with it. Google would say its data collection policies improve its services—helping you find a restaurant similar ones you’ve liked previously, say—whereas users might disagree.

Read More

‘Consumer Reports’ calls out Tesla’s Navigate on Autopilot update | Mashable

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has proclaimed unfaltering adoration for his electric car company’s Autopilot feature on highways. But after a recent update meant to make it easier to use the semi-autonomous system, not everyone is so keen on the advanced-driving assistance tool.

Review service and publication Consumer Reports blasted Navigate on Autopilot on Wednesday following Tesla’s updates to the assistance tool last month. The automatic lane-changing and speed-suggesting system, which only works on certain highways, had several issues.

“We found that Navigate on Autopilot lagged far behind a human driver’s skill set,” the publication’s Keith Barry wrote.

Read More

Bitcoin could change the game for foreign aid | CNN

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Today’s humanitarian aid model is fundamentally broken. Whether you’re a foundation making a donation to a nonprofit abroad, a government distributing aid to another government, or an individual sending emergency funds to family members across borders, your money only gets to where it needs to go after passing through intermediaries. Even in the simplest payment scenario, there’s your bank; a coordination network; and the aid recipient’s bank. But often, there are even more middlemen, with money moving along complex chains of third parties.

Such a system has obvious flaws. One is that each intermediary between you and the person or organization you are trying to help can delay, surveil, censor or steal your funds. In 2012, the UN’s then-secretary general Ban Ki-moon said that “corruption prevented 30% of all development assistance from reaching its final destination.”

Read More

Here’s How Many US Cancer Cases Are Tied to Unhealthy Diets | Live Science

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

More than 80,000 cancer cases diagnosed each year in the U.S. may be tied to an unhealthy diet, according to a new study.

The study researchers used a mathematical model to estimate the number of U.S. cancer cases tied to suboptimal intake of seven dietary components known to be related to cancer risk. These included diets low in whole grains, dairy, fruits and vegetables; and diets high in processed meats, red meats and sugar-sweetened beverages.

Read More

Survey Finds Mixed Feelings on Location-Based Ads | Business News Daily

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Every day, millions of miniature computers ride along in our pockets and purses as we go about our daily tasks. From the grocery store to the office and back home, our smartphones are little beacons that track our movements, whether we like it or not. According to a recent survey conducted by The Manifest, our phones help marketers get their location-based ads to nearly everyone.

More than 720 U.S. residents participated in The Manifest’s survey after admitting they allow various applications on their iOS and Android devices to track their real-time locations. Of those respondents, just 15% said they “rarely or never see ads” that reference their location.

Read More

Walmart sued for sale of “nonsense” homeopathic remedies | Fast Company

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Walmart is being sued for selling questionable alternative remedies.

The Center for Inquiry (CFI), a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that “pseudoscience is prevented from harming society,” filed a complaint Monday on behalf of residents in Washington, D.C., against the giant retailer. The organization claims the superstore deliberately “creates a false and misleading impression in customers regarding homeopathic products, presenting them as an equal alternative to science and evidence-based medication.”

Source: Walmart sued for sale of “nonsense” homeopathic remedies

Avengers: Endgame beats box office records with $1.2bn debut | BBC News

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Avengers: Endgame has made box office history by taking a record-breaking $1.2bn (£929m) in global ticket sales in its opening run.

The Disney blockbuster has become the fastest film ever to break the $1bn barrier, doing so in just five days.

Endgame is the 22nd offering in the Marvel Studios superhero franchise.

Its opening takings smashed the previous global debut record of $640m set by last year’s Avengers: Infinity War.

Read More

Trying to Make Your Product a Hit? Don’t Sell It on Amazon | Inc.com

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Jules Pieri is the godmother of startup manufacturers. A former industrial designer, she and her business partner Joanne Domeniconi launched The Grommet 10 years ago to introduce novel consumer products to a community of quality- and values-minded consumers. The company evaluates 300 submissions a week, chooses the top 3 percent, and launches them into the market with videos about their origin stories and long chats between makers and customers. Products receiving early visibility from The Grommet include Fitbit, GoldieBlox, and SodaStream. The company also advises entrepreneurs on subjects like packaging and helps them develop distribution.

Read More